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is a city in Brazoria County, Texas, United States, within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown Metropolitan Area. The city sits in Texas's 14th Congressional District , currently represented by Congressman Ron Paul. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the city population was 21,413. Alvin's claim to fame is Baseball Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan, who moved with his family to the city in 1947 as an infant and lived there until he moved to Round Rock in 2003. The Nolan Ryan Museum is in the Nolan Ryan Foundation and Exhibit Center on the campus of Alvin Community College. The museum covers the entire life and sports career of Nolan Ryan, and includes a machine that lets the visitor feel what it is like to catch one of Nolan Ryan's pitches.
Jerry Koosman, one of Ryan's teammates on the New York Mets, once quipped that Alvin was so small, "it didn't have a last name."
The Alvin area was settled in the mid 1800s when bull ranches were established in the area. The Santa Fe Railroad eventually expanded into the area and a settlement was established along the railroad. Alvin was originally named Morgan by the town's residents in honor of the settlement's original resident, Santa Fe employee Alvin Morgan. But upon discovery the name Morgan had been taken, the town named itself after Morgan's first name. The town was officially incorporated in 1893, making it the oldest incorporated settlement in Brazoria County.
On July 25, 1979 Tropical Storm Claudette stalled over Alvin and inundated the region with 45 inches in 42 hours. That total included 43 inches in 24 hours, the maximum 24-hour rainfall in US history.